Home-opener features Oak Ridge Wildcats vs. Dragons at Blankenship

Oak Ridge High School football coach Joe Gaddis has described his 2013 football team as being “young and inexperienced.”

by Tim Waddell and Darrell Richardson

Oak Ridge High School football coach Joe Gaddis has described his 2013 football team as being “young and inexperienced.”

That youthful inexperience was all too evident in the opening minutes of last week’s game with Farragut, as three quick touchdowns by the Admirals gave the home team a 21-3 advantage over the Wildcats at the end of the first quarter.

Despite a valiant second-half effort in the Wildcats’ season-opener (it was the second game of the season for Farragut, who lost a 21-20 squeaker at Kingsport Dobyns-Bennett in Week Zero), time simply ran out for Oak Ridge on Bill Clabo Field as the ’Cats fell 31-24.

This week, the Wildcats (0-1) host Clinton (1-1) at home on Blankenship Field, which is located in the Jack Armstrong Stadium across from historic Jackson Square. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. this evening.

Immediately following last week’s loss, Coach Joe Gaddis huddled up the Oak Ridge team members and vowed that they would be ready earlier for future games. That promise is expected to take root tonight.

“We spotted them too many points,” coach Gaddis said of the Farragut contest. “It was there for the taking, and we didn’t take it.”

Last week, Clinton quarterback Tyler Thackerson threw for two touchdowns and ran for another in a 27-7 win at Seymour.

Thackerson started through the air for Clinton, connecting with Drake Powell on a 40-yard touchdown pass. Thackerson later threw a 5-yard scoring pass to Aaron Watson, who rushed for 90 yards and caught four passes totaling an additional 41 yards.

Overall, Thackerson was 15-for-27 for 187 yards. His touchdown run covered 10 yards; he rushed 13 times for 78 yards.

Clinton overcame three turnovers for last week’s win, while host Seymour was set back by three lost fumbles and two interceptions.

Stats on last week’s Wildcats vs. Farragut game indicate that out of the Admirals’ 12 first downs, 10 were the result of rushing and two passing while out of Oak Ridge’s 11 first downs, five were the result of rushing, five the result of passing and one due to a penalty by the opposing team.

That one interception — a huge play made early in the third quarter by the Wildcats’ junior defensive standout Tommy Kaczocha — proved to be a momentum-changer at Farragut, as did quarterback Jaylin Henderson returning to the lineup following a “miraculous” recovery from an ACL injury.

Other standouts in the Aug. 30 game against Farragut included Wildcat junior running back Michael Rowe, sophomore kicker Brandon Nickle and senior defensive end and offensive tackle Harry Boston, who impressed coach Gaddis with his work on both sides of the ball.

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CAREacter Athletes

The CAREacter Star Athlete Program is based on a five-point Star System that includes attitude, character, grades, community service and performance. Every week coaches from schools across the country select one student from each specific sport as their school’s “Star Athlete of the Week” based on the five traits.

Darrell Richardson can be contacted by email at drichardson@oakridger.com. Special thanks to Keith Hyatt, Tim Waddell, Jon Shipley, coach Joe Gaddis, Mark Haste, Carmen Roberts and the Associated Press for contributing to this article.